Sparkling Voice

What is Voice?

Voice is YOU coming through the writing. It’s what gives your writing personality, flavor, and style– a sound all its own.

It is when the personality, thoughts, and feelings of the writer show through the words we read.

Voice is when you hear the author or writing speaking to you.

Think about it!

“Voice is the imprint of the person on the piece…As writers compose, they leave their fingerprints all over their work.”

-Donald Graves and Virginia Stuart

“Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.”

-John Jakes

To Achieve Sparkling Voice:

Write honestly and from the heart Use language that brings the topic to life for the

reader Care about what you have written Use expression Connect with the reader Give the reader a sense of the person behind

the words Be yourself!

Examples of Voice The Spider and the Fly

by Tony DiTerlizzi

Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin

Voices in the Parkby Anthony Browne

Who is Melvin Bubble?by Nick Bruel

Activity #1: Who left that message? Each set of partners will be assigned a

character. Characters sheet

You and your partner will come up with a skit pretending to be your character. You can act out your skit or read aloud a “voicemail” that your character could have recorded.

The class will try to guess who you are pretending to be by paying attention to what you say and how you say it.

Activity #2: Tone of Voice

Every piece of writing should have a tone or “flavor.”

The tone should be appropriate for the audience and purpose of the piece of writing.

Read The Spider and the Fly by Tony DiTerlizzi and complete the Tone of Voice Word Web.

Discuss as a class.

Activity #3 Part One: Giving Objects Voice

In the story, Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin, you learn about life from the point of view of a worm.

With the class, brainstorm other objects or creatures that you could give a “voice” to. Think about each object and discuss what its attitude, personality, and opinions would be. What are its likes and dislikes? Pair-Share with the person next to you.

Choose your own object to write a story about. Tell about the life of your object in the form of a journal/diary or newsletter.

Keep your object a secret and see if the class can guess!

Activity #3 Part Two: Audience

The audience is who is reading the piece of writing and who the author is writing to.

The voice of a piece of writing will change when the audience changes.

Using “voiceless” objects, write a short story following this prompt: You are a _________. Tell _________ about your life.

Use any of the following examples or come up with your own:

Pencil ↔ paper Pencil ↔ pencil sharpener Computer ↔ student Sock ↔ shoe Shoe ↔ shoelaces Baseball ↔ bat Bone ↔ dog Cat ↔ mouse Scissors ↔ paper

Activity #4: Introduce Point of View Divide the class into two groups. Explain that they are going to be

reading a short piece of text and their task is to remember as many details as possible from the text.

Tell one half of the class that they are burglars and the other half of the class that they are real estate agents, without divulging the roles to the opposite groups.

Pull up the document called “The House” on an overhead or Smart board and read it aloud to the students. While you are reading, the students should not be taking notes.

Once the reading is complete, turn off the overhead and ask students to list as many details as they can remember about the house from the text (e.g., descriptions of rooms, items located in the house, layout of house). This part of the activity should be limited to 2-3 minutes.

Students then share their lists within their group and create a list on chart paper.

Hang both sheets of chart paper on the front wall of the classroom. Discuss the similarities and differences between the two lists, and allow students to guess the viewpoint of the other group.

Discuss whether the lists would be different from another viewpoint (e.g., child, interior decorator, pet dog).

Activity #5: Point of ViewPart One: Listen to a piece of writing about a rip in the pants that

lacks voice. What is the point of view? How would the story change if it were written from different points of view? As a class, identify different points of view for the writing (teacher, principal, student, the pants, etc.).

In small groups, discuss how the voice of the writing would change according to your assigned point of view. Rewrite the piece to add voice.

Part Two: A story changes with different points of view. Read

Voices in the Park, by Anthony Browne. Discuss each of the four narrators in the book. Describe

each using character traits by completing the character analysis chart.

Activity #6: Point of View Listen to the story Who is Melvin Bubble? Identify the different points of view in the

story. What would people say about you if

someone were to write a “Who is ________ ________?” What would you write about yourself?

Discuss with your Turn & Talk partner and share with the class.

Write your own “Who is ____?” story and add illustrations.

Time to Write!

It’s time to put your skills to the test! Demonstrate your knowledge of voice by designing a R.A.F.T.S. writing assignment.

R = Role of the writer A = Audience F = Format T = Topic S = Strong Verb

Time to Write!1. Explore R.A.F.T.S.

Interactive R.A.F.T.S. Create your own R.A.F.T.S.

2. Choose a role, audience, format, topic, and strong verb from the R.A.F.T.S. Ideas page.

3. Complete the R.A.F.T.S. graphic organizer.

4. Write your rough draft.

5. Record yourself reading your story aloud using Vocaroo. Listen for sparkling voice!

6. Assess your writing using the voice rubric.

7. Make revisions and turn in!

Resources Creative Teaching Press, Traits of Good Writing Reproducible Activities

Culham, Ruth, 6 + 1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide

Culham, Ruth, Using Picture Books to Teach Writing with the Traits

Sloan, Megan S., Trait-Based Mini-Lessons for Teaching Writing

Kim’s Korner for Teacher Talk- http://www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/writing/sixtrait/voice/menu.html

Writing Fix- http://writingfix.com/6_traits/voice.htm

http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/tnl/langarts/pdf/6traits/voice.pdf

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=167

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=23